It is a striking truth. 

A woman’s 28-day cycle is so stable compared to a man’s testosterone cycle that it seems extreme to men.

The truth is men have at LEAST 9 testosterone cycles.

Testosterone is the most abundant hormone in men’s and women’s bodies, although men have 17 times as much.

The amount of “T” is just one piece of the “genetic personality” differences in men and women. 

Men also have different endocrine gland structures and different brain wiring and integration of our mental problem-solving, emotional processing, stress response, and temperament areas in our brain compared to women.

For example, a woman’s thyroid gland is twice as big, they have 10 feet more small intestine, and a man’s skin-hypothalamus-pituitary axis has different feedback loops. 

This is highly relevant because 50% of a man’s testosterone and 75 premenopausal estrogens, and 100% of postmenopausal estrogen are made in the skin. 

As I see it, the biggest issue is the interplay of testosterone in male physiology with insulin and the disruption caused by insulin resistance. Men have a much more immediate response. 

Women have a longer delayed response to the estrogen-insulin interplay. Insulin Resistance is the foundational hormonal disruption that severe PMS and Menopause symptoms build from, and PCOS, Endometriosis, and infertility result in between. 

Men and women can stimulate and hyper-stimulate insulin at any time of the day by their food choices, quality, quantity, timing, combining, and frequency. 

The cortisol response to stress and insulin to food are the only hormones we can vary significantly by our actions and lifestyle.

To make a long story short, men’s hormones are up and down, on and off, ready then waiting all day, every day, varying each week and fluctuating monthly depending on the time of year.

That’s where the age-old tale of the question women joke about came from. “What, you don’t like the answer your man gives you right now?”

Wait 20 minutes and ask again!!!!!

That joke is no joke. It is very real.

Men’s testosterone will vary:

1. 2-3 times per hour
2. Morning vs. evening
3. Monthly
4. Yearly
5. Time of life
6. Maturation
7. Depending on the diet
8. With competition
9. Depending on stress levels

Over time due to our modern diet and stress levels, a man’s testosterone can be all over the place subtly….and sometimes not so subtly, affecting him.

Culturally we as men do not have “appropriate” outlets……or our expressions of said outlets are not as “acceptable” as women’s are, and men very recently run the risk of being accused of “toxic masculinity” if they do express themselves through their genetic personality in a way that disagrees or someone doesn’t like.

That, over time, drives down a man’s natural hormonal expression and, therefore, the production of testosterone and weakens our testosterone-adrenaline-dopamine feedback loop for motivation, drive to face challenges, confidence, leadership qualities, and assuredness, to name a few of the lost qualities seen in modern men.

It also leads to significant mood and depressive issues that aren’t very “manly” to have……look for another post on this…..it is a big issue.

But there is hope….

Clean up your diet, set a plan for eating variation, timing, frequency, and fasting, work out more, and try to cut that stress down while picking up some “appropriate” outlets for anxiety and the uniquely male expression of our genetic personality and emotions with other men, not your woman.

You deserve it!

In the meantime, don’t eat less, just less often……2-3 times a day max and do some heavy lifting and see how it goes.

We can do better!

Dr. Don